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Commission suggests changing vacancy and removal rules; council weighs risks
Summary
The commission recommended that council — not party committees — fill council vacancies and raised the voting threshold for removal of an elected member to a five-member supermajority; supporters said the changes reduce partisan control over seats and protect stability.
The Charter Review Commission recommended changing how council vacancies are filled and how sitting members might be removed. Under current language, central party committees played a role in filling some vacancies; the commission recommended council be responsible for filling all vacancies by majority vote to reflect that seats belong to the electorate, not to party committees.
The commission also recommended explicitly listing felony convictions as cause for removal and increasing the threshold to remove a sitting council member to a five-member supermajority. Joe Combs said the change recognizes removal is a serious action and that a simple majority could be too fragile and invite political infighting.
Council members voiced procedural questions — for example whether including the mayor in a tie-break for a vacancy would create an odd-numbered panel — and discussed the merits of bundling these items on the ballot. The commission suggested separating less controversial items from more substantive changes to avoid a "poison pill" effect that could defeat broadly supported reforms.
